Scott Wiener's persistence pays off in District 8

SAN FRANCISCO

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, December 30, 2010

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

Newly elected San Francisco supervisor Scott Wiener, of District 8, on Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010, in San Francisco, Calif.
Ran on: 12-30-2010
Scott Wiener, deputy city attorney, began his campaign two years before the election.
Ran on: 02-16-2011
New S.F. Supervisor Scott Wiener is wading into the contentious issue of dogs after just six weeks on the job, looking into requiring permits for dog walkers.
Ran on: 02-16-2011
New S.F. Supervisor Scott Wiener is wading into the contentious issue of dogs after just six weeks on the job, looking into requiring permits for dog walkers.
Ran on: 02-16-2011
New S.F. Supervisor Scott Wiener is wading into the contentious issue of dogs after just six weeks on the job, looking into requiring permits for dog walkers.
Ran on: 04-15-2011
Scott Wiener less

Newly elected San Francisco supervisor Scott Wiener, of District 8, on Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010, in San Francisco, Calif.
Ran on: 12-30-2010
Scott Wiener, deputy city attorney, began his campaign two years before ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 2

Newly elected San Francisco supervisor Scott Wiener, of District 8, on Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010, walking down Market Street.

Newly elected San Francisco supervisor Scott Wiener, of District 8, on Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010, walking down Market Street.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Scott Wiener's persistence pays off in District 8

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Unlike some elected members of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, Scott Wiener doesn't start the job as a political novice who won his seat with a dash of luck and chance.

Rather, his friends say, he had election day 2010 circled on his metaphorical calendar for eight years. That was the date an open field of challengers would run to replace termed-out Supervisor Bevan Dufty in District Eight - the heavily gay district including the Castro - and Wiener trained his eye on grabbing the open seat with laserlike focus.

The 40-year-old deputy city attorney officially began his campaign early - two years before the election.

He went on to claim the highest percentage of votes of any winner in the competitive supervisors' races - both in first-place votes and when ranked-choice voting was calculated.

It's the kind of conscientiousness and drive Wiener is known for; every person interviewed for this story used the adjective "hardworking" to describe the next supervisor. His diligence may be his most notable characteristic other than his 6-foot-7 stature.

Drawn to politics

Wiener said he's been interested in politics for as long as he can remember.

"I was just really passionate about the issues - I was always just drawn to that," he said.

As a junior in high school, he served on a committee to examine the appropriateness of the public school holding a religious Christian invocation as part of its graduation ceremony. Wiener, who is Jewish, spoke out about the separation of church and state.

"It became this huge culture war," he said. "We got a threat that there would be a cross burned on our lawn. It was a hollow threat, fortunately."

Born in Philadelphia and raised in southern New Jersey, Wiener said his first vivid political memory is his Democratic family going into mourning when Ronald Reagan was elected president.

His father, Richard, worked as an optometrist, and his mother, Elaine, ran the administrative side of the office before they sold the practice. His younger sister, Melissa, is a doctor. "A Jewish father's dream - a lawyer and a doctor," Wiener said with a laugh.

Wiener attended public schools before double-majoring in history and Spanish at Duke University, graduating in 1992. He won a Fulbright scholarship and studied 18th century colonial government in Santiago, Chile.

At Harvard Law School, Wiener crossed paths with two of his new colleagues, Supervisors David Chiu and David Campos. Wiener had come out as gay in his junior year at Duke, and Campos said when he came out during law school, Wiener "was very supportive." Though longtime friends, the two will be at opposite ends of the board's political spectrum, with Campos on the left and Wiener on the right.

"He's one of those people who understands you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable," Campos said.

High-profile cases

After graduating from Harvard in 1996, Wiener worked as a clerk for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice for a year before moving to San Francisco to work in commercial litigation at Heller Ehrman.

He joined City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office in 2002 as one of the then-new city attorney's first deputies. He has handled several high-profile cases, including defending the city against a suit by then-Community College trustee Rodel Rodis, who was arrested by police at a Walgreens in 2003 for using a $100 bill that was falsely thought to be counterfeit. Wiener won the case.

He also helped settle the lawsuit brought by John Tennison, the San Francisco man wrongly imprisoned for 13 years for murder.

Herrera said Wiener not only has been successful on his cases, but has trained and mentored a host of young attorneys.

"I'm sad to lose him, but the city is going to be much better off having him as a member of the Board of Supervisors," Herrera said. "He's not given to hyperbole or histrionics - he's just a level-headed, rational professional. He's one of the hardest-working individuals I have ever met in my life. He's involved in everything."

One thing Wiener hasn't found a lot of time for is romantic relationships. He said he doesn't have a partner, but that he's looking. "I'm always open to opportunities," he said with a grin.

As supervisor, he said his top priority will be improving the city's transportation, including ironing out Muni drivers' work rules, increasing the number of taxicabs and creating a centralized cab dispatch system. He wants to reform the payroll tax system and shepherd several development projects planned for his district.

Wiener said he believes the next board will help bring a more collegial, respectful tone to the dog-eat-dog world of City Hall politics and cites his long-standing relationships with many members.

"There will always be good-faith policy disputes, but I think there will be more of an atmosphere of people working together," he said.

This week

The Chronicle is highlighting each of the incoming members of the Board of Supervisors who will be sworn in on Jan. 8.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.